This is a great resource for novelists. It is a collection of emails from 1997 – correspondence for what I can only assume is some sort of writing class or writer’s group. From what I gather, the source of these emails is one mbarker@MIT.EDU who goes by the moniker tink.

Now, tink’s exercises and input is very insightful, but he is drawing upon a text by one Ronald B. Tobias, whose book “20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)” is the focus of these emails. The combination of Tobias’ text and tink’s reflections make for a wonderful document. I have a printed copy of these emails among my other writing resources, because when I find myself stuck, I can usually refer to these exercises to get my gears turning.